The Great War for Empire beggared the British economy. In 1765 Parliament moved to levy direct taxes on the colonies and to regulate colonial trade so that it profited Britain. The legislatures of the North American colonies protested. Americans insisted on "no taxation without representation." More protests led to outright conflict, the suspension of colonial governments by Parliament, the creation of a Continental Congress to speak for North America, and finally, an organized military confrontation at Lexington and Concord in April 1775.